AIG Kalia Sesay Says ‘No Tribalism in SLP’

Director of Peacekeeping Missions in the Sierra Leone Police (SLP), Assistant Inspector General Kalia Sesay, has denied claims that deployment of personnel to peacekeeping missions was based on tribal or regional considerations.

AIG Sesay was responding to a media report that the senior officials at the directorate of peacekeeping deploy and recall personnel based on tribal and regional sentiments.

The report claimed that Contingent Commander Chief Superintendent Aisha Bangura, AIG Sesay, and Chief Superintendent Patrick Johnson had unfairly sidelined some officers in the peacekeeping mission in Sudan, primarily because of their tribal affiliation.

Sesay and other senior officers of the SLP invited this reporter to the SLP headquarters on Tuesday to explain the recruitment process into peacekeeping operations, withdrawal of personnel from missions, and more importantly to strengthen their commitment as professional police personnel worth emulating.

AIG Kalia maintained they are not responsible for the recruitment of personnel as it is the responsibility of the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping which, he said, selects police officers after taking an examination.

“There is no tribalism in the SLP. We are a responsible force and therefore we ensure transparency and accountability in dealing with professional issues. We are only facilitating the process,” AIG Sesay said.

“15 of our personnel were in the mission and so there was a request for the withdrawal of two personnel that decision did not come from us as senior personnel. So the issue of tribalism does not come to play,” he said and added that the story drew serious concern from the police high command, especially when it was published online.

Meanwhile, two personnel who recently returned from South Sudan have been invited by the Complaint, Discipline and Internal Investigations Department (CDIID) of the SLP for investigation.

According to AIG Sesay, the personnel were arraigned before the department to help with investigation into the said allegation, although the officers have vehemently denied divulging information to the media about the mission in Sudan.

“It is normal with the SLP to invite the CDIID on matters like this. The officers were questioned in order to ascertain their involvement into the matter. If they are responsible for giving out information to the press, then disciplinary action will be taken against them,” he concluded.